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User blog:Pinkguy the b0ss/Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Review
What's up my Shreks, it's that game review guy again. This time, we're here to review the last Sonic game I'll talk about for a while (maybe idk lol). This time, we're talking about none other than Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Genesis. Let's go. In 1991, the original Sonic the Hedgehog sold like crazy, driving the sales of the Sega Genesis. This was all the motivation Sega needed to begin development on a sequel. There were actually two seperate Sonic 2s - Sonic CD, developed by Sega of Japan, and the Sonic 2 we're talking about today, developed by Sega Technical Institute in the U.S. Sonic 2 was released in 1992, and very quickly outsold the first game, overtook NES and SNES sales (for the time being), and made the Genesis into the most popular game console of its time. There this game remains to this day - one of the fan-favorite entries in the Sonic series. So what are my thoughts? Do I like this game, or hate it? Is it deserving of its legendary status? Let's find out. Story This time, Dr. Robotnik has made his way to West Island to search for a power source for his new space base - the Death Sta- er, I mean Death Egg. Sonic, of course, attempts to stop him by travelling through all the zones of West Island and foiling his plans. It's fine and works well. That's all I really need for one of these stories. Gameplay Just like this game's prequel, it's a 2D platformer that emphasizes Sonic's speed. The main difference between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 in this regard is the fact that Sonic 2 puts an even greater emphasis on speed than the first. It does this through the removal of the speed cap that the first game had, allowing Sonic to accelerate to insane speeds. The levels also have tons more automatic sections that give you a fun burst of speed, just like Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The game controls exactly the same as Sonic 1 and Sonic 3&K, and has the same excellent physics. A new addition is the spindash, which provides a convenient way to get up slopes you'd have to backtrack to get up in Sonic 1. It controls very intuitively and is easy to use as well. This game spans over eleven zones, which usually contain two acts, making for a grand total of 20 levels. I think two acts per zone is far better than the three acts per zone from Sonic 1, as it allows for better pacing. These levels are designed very well overall, but can sometimes feel like there's a bit too much going on. The level layouts can get somewhat confusing due to the many branching paths. However, the game never gets so confusing that it feels like a maze. With all that said, time to talk about the difficulty, and man, do I have quite a few things to say about that. Difficulty Like the last game, this game is 100% beatable. With enough time put in, you'll beat it. I did it in about two months, which is only because I was preoccupied with Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Again, without the level select code, because that's cheating in my eyes. Unfortunately, however, this is where the game's shortcomings begin to show. First off, the screen crunch problems from the first game are still here. They weren't extremely intrusive there, and while they are a little worse in this game, they're also not that widespread. You'll sometimes slam into enemies or hazards out of nowhere, especially if you're unfamiliar with the game. Thankfully, there's still shield powerups, so this visibility issue is not much more than a slight annoyance. However, this game still has random instant kills. Occasionally, a giant moving stage hazard can crush you out of nowhere, or you'll fall into a bottomless pit you couldn't predict. This can make the game annoying to play at times, but not to a degree that ruins the game. For some reason, this game still uses the outdated system of limited continues. Thankfully, it's easier to earn continues than in Sonic 1. Instead of having to touch the special stages (you know, those stupid bonus stages that were often pretty poorly designed), you simply have to get a score of 10,000 at the end of a level. This doesn't completely resolve this issue, but it's a step in the right direction. As I said before, though, despite these shortcomings, the game is still a lot of fun, mostly because the levels are overall pretty good. Well, that is until you get past Mystic Cave Zone. The next zone, Oil Ocean Zone, is somewhat confusing to navigate for first-timers, and the aesthetics are pretty boring. Overall though, Oil Ocean Zone is ok. The next zone after that, however - Metropolis Zone - is one of my least favorite zones in any Sonic game I've played so far. This zone has obnoxious stage hazards and annoying enemies that are placed in cheap spots. But, worst of all? This zone is ridiculously long. It's the only one to have three acts, and each one is even more confusing and lengthy than the last. The visibility doesn't help things either. The zone after that, Sky Chase, is fine but a bit on the easy side. However, the next zone, Wing Fortress, will give you a run for your money. A bit of it does come from hazards that ambush you from offscreen, but the same can be said about a few instances from the rest of the game. Overall, Wing Fortress is just alright. Not necessarily a bad stage, but not the best either. Lastly, the bosses. Most of them are on par with Sonic 1, and I find that they're just the slightest bit more challenging (which is a good thing). However, by the time you reach the end of the game... the bosses become more mixed in quality. Oil Ocean's boss is an early warning sign, being slightly annoying if you don't know what to do. Metropolis Zone's boss, however, takes the cake. This boss is very annoying. It seems to be luck whether or not you hit it, due to the ridiculously fast defensive spheres that encircle it. You're required to have rings for this fight, or else you have no chance. The Wing Fortress boss is way more tolerable than Metropolis, but it's still not the greatest. You have spiked platforms that move around randomly and can hit you out of nowhere, and a laser that you have to hit by jumping on them. Still, at its worst, this boss is inoffensive. The final boss, on the other hand, is one of my least favorite Sonic bosses. Want to know why? No rings. And you have to face off against two not-so-good bosses. Silver Sonic in particular is pretty annoying. His attacks can either be to dash across the screen, or to jump. It's so easy to die because of how unpredictable it all is, and remember, you can't get hit even once because you get no rings. Once you beat Silver Sonic, you'll then move on to the true final boss - the Death Egg Robot. This boss is either really frustrating or very boring. As for me, it's boring as I thankfully knew how to beat the boss already. The strategy to beat him is very unclear and difficult to figure out. You basically have to let him drop down, bend over, and then you can hit him. Try this any other time, and you'll likely die. And trust me, you don't want that to happen, since you'll have to fight Silver Sonic again. You have to do this twelve times, making a three-minute boss feel like a ''thirty-''minute boss. Despite these flaws, however, Sonic 2 is still a great game, because the rest of the levels (Emerald Hill to Oil Ocean, Sky Chase, and Wing Fortress (kind of)) are enjoyable, like I previously said. This doesn't excuse the game's flaws, obviously, but since the game really only goes bad for a few levels and bosses near the end, I still consider Sonic 2 to be a damn solid game, I just wanted to point out a few things I thought others weren't. Soundtrack The soundtrack from Sonic 2 is even better than the one from the first game. Every song on this soundtrack is well-composed and compliments the gameplay very well. My favorites include Chemical Plant Zone, Aquatic Ruin Zone, Casino Night Zone, Hilltop Zone, Sky Chase Zone, Wing Fortress Zone, and the boss theme. Graphics This game looks great for a 1992 Genesis game, no, forget that, it looks great in general. The spritework is even better than that of the first game, the backgrounds are more detailed, and the shading technique has improved. The zones have a neat parallax scrolling effect as well, something the Genesis excelled at with its multiple background layers. It also features a wonderfully cartoony artstyle that hasn't aged a day (just like the first game). This game still looks great to this day. Conclusion To wrap this all up, I like Sonic 2. It's a great game, despite the occasionally dated design choices and a few later levels and bosses that aren't the best. I'd recommend it as the second classic Sonic game you play after Sonic 3&K if you like what you see. Just like always, you have a few options - since Genesis hardware is relatively inexpensive, you can get your hands on an authentic console and game cartridge if you really feel like it. You can also get it on Virtual Console, emulator, or even the Taxman & Stealth remake of the game, which like their Sonic 1 remake, fixes some of the flaws of the game. I think Sonic 2 is definitely worth checking out if you're into platformers. To answer my main question at the start of the review - Do I think that this game is deserving of its legendary status? I don't think it's the absolute best Sonic game like some people suggest, but I do think it's status is deserved. It's an excellent game and stands as one of the most essential 2D platformers of all time. With that, tune in next time when I either do a movie review of some kind (maybe), a new Fuck this Shit (probably not), or finally put out that Godforsaken NSMBW review I promised months ago in my Donkey Kong Country 3 review, but never delivered. Whatever happens, see you later, my Shreks. Category:Blog posts